LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) – Britain’s Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday that the government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful.
Under an initial 140 million pound (162.25 million euro) deal struck last year, Britain planned to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers arriving on its shores a distance of more than 6,400 km, towards the East African country.
Three judges finally decided by majority that Rwanda could not be considered a safe third country.
“The shortcomings of the asylum system in Rwanda are such that there are substantial grounds to believe that there is a real risk that persons sent to Rwanda will be sent back to their country of origin where they risk being persecuted. or suffer other inhumane treatment,” Judge Ian Burnett said when announcing the court’s decision.
He clarified that until these shortcomings “have not been corrected, the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda will be illegal”.
Ian Burnett added that he disagreed with the other two judges. A government source said the government was likely to challenge the decision in the UK Supreme Court. But even if the government wins its case, deportation flights are highly unlikely to begin this year.
“We are absolutely delighted that the Court of Appeal has confirmed that Rwanda is not a safe country for asylum seekers and that these people will not be sent back to Rwanda,” Alison Pickup, director, told the press. of Asylum Aid, a campaign group involved in the case.
The move is a blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is facing high inflation, declining public support and mounting pressure from his own party and public opinion. to deal with arrivals of migrants crossing the Channel.
Rishi Sunak has made stopping the boats one of his five priorities and hopes a drop in arrivals could help his Conservative party secure a victory in the next national election. Interior Minister Suella Braverman is due to make a statement to parliament later on Thursday.
The opposition has said the government should scrap the policy, with the Liberal Democrats calling it “immoral, inefficient and incredibly costly for taxpayers”, as well as a “vanity scheme” for Suella Braverman.
Sending each asylum seeker to Rwanda would cost an average of 169,000 pounds (195,854.37 euros), the government said this week.
The opposition say that most asylum seekers fleeing war or persecution currently have no legal route to claim refugee status to enter Britain, so many consider dangerous boat crossings as their only option.
Last year, a record 45,755 people crossed the English Channel, mainly from France. More than 11,000 people have arrived since the start of the year, a rate similar to that of the first half of 2022. (Report Michael Holden, Sam Tobin and Andrew MacAskill; French version Gaëlle Sheehan, editing by Kate Entringer)
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